


Homesick at Band Camp

by Erinwolf1997



Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: Band Fic, Camping, Drums, Ertrick, F/M, Fire, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Forests, Grinding, Hanging Out, Late Night Conversations, Late at Night, Literal Sleeping Together, Music, Musicians, Pizza, Sneaking Around, Summer, Summer Camp, Summer Love, Summer Romance, Tree Sex, Vegetarians & Vegans, Young Love, outdoors, well not really but yeah
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-27
Updated: 2014-11-16
Packaged: 2018-02-14 23:26:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 18,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2207031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erinwolf1997/pseuds/Erinwolf1997
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At an overnight band camp, right after they run out of food at dinner, I connect with the cute guy behind me in line. I wish I could just at least know his name. I hope we run into each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

     Walking into the cafeteria was like a soothing bath against my chilled skin. We left the cold forest air behind as we entered to the smell of baking bread and inviting wood smoke. The lights cast an orange organic glow into the large room as I stepped off to the side, waiting for my friend to come with me. She skipped over to where I was standing near the wall, hands in the pocket of her charcoal coat.

  
     I sighed, signifying the end to the itching cold that had nagged us while we were out in the darkening camp yard. Between camp activities we were free to go wherever we wished on the grounds whether it be in the woods, to our rooms, or out on the soccer field. However, the dinner bell had rang minutes before so we had made our way in from the outskirts of the soccer field, talking the whole time. Some people who filed in to the cafeteria were carrying instruments. We were lucky enough to be able to use the camp's many pianos because that was our main focus.

  
     The line for food was almost unbearable as it was prone to forming moments after the bell rang. We'd been here for two days already and learned that that's how things went around here. I'd come to camp with the intent to further my musical talent. Attending with me was my friend Felice as well as my brother and his musical friends. Nestled in the nearby mountains, my family felt that it would be a great way for me to practice my piano skills. After all, it was a band camp. Most people brought along instruments characteristic of rock music, but there were a few who brought ones of the classical side. Guitars were everywhere. Upright basses were scarce and for good reasons.

  
     We got warmer as we stood against the wall, waiting for the line to shorten. I peeled off my sweatshirt and tied it around my waist. Felice whipped out her phone. I saw my brother and his friends, drummer and guitarists, close to the front of the line already. They must have arrived early. The rumbling commotion of eating and talking grew louder as more people reached the tables. I turned to Felice. "Should we get in line now?" Most people were sitting down.

  
     She looked around briefly as then nodded. We began to weave around the classic cafeteria style tables that seated moderate cliques of people. We sank into the line and I watched the outside sky as the lamps began to turn on. The noise in the cafeteria was at a dull roar so I couldn't talk to Felice as she grabbed her plate. I grabbed one too; it was so warm it almost burned, fresh from the dishwasher. The ceramic was speckled with grey. She rushed ahead and I struggled to snap back into the present.

  
     The familiar concern for the food they were serving settled into my head. As a woman dished up grilled chicken and I wondered how diverse the food I would be able to eat would be. I spooned some macaroni salad that looked vegetarian onto my plate. Felice waited for me like a Buddhist monk. Further along the line there was some garlic bread. Next to the bread were two different kinds of spaghetti. A little laminated sign labeled the differences as "Meat Sauce" and "Vegetarian" in scribbled handwriting. The meatless pasta was running low and this concerned me. I glanced back. There were only about a half dozen people left in line. _Chances are none of them are vegetarian_ , I thought as I scooped almost all what was left of it onto my plate. I hesitated a bit when one of the cooks walked by. The man behind me in line got her attention as I froze, serving spoon in the air.

  
     "Any more vegetarian?" He asked. I glanced at him, feeling guilty for taking too much. He must have been in his mid-twenties. He didn't give off the douchey vibe I was used to, giving he was wearing a fedora. He waited patiently for her to reply. I put the spoon down.

  
     "No, go ahead." He said to me, looking me right in the eye with a sympathetic glance framed by his glasses. The woman left briefly as I nervously spooned some but not all, again, onto my plate. Felice had by then moved on to the beverage station and she signaled to me whether I wanted apple juice or water. I mouthed "apple juice" to her while trying to keep my eye on the spaghetti and my vegetarian buddy.

  
     The woman came back moments after. She started scraping the corners of the pan and mumbled, "No more. I'm sorry." Disappointed, I nudged him and festered up all the courage I had to say to him considerately, "You can have the rest." He smiled and thanked me, and as I walked away, he joked, "Well we better fill up on bread!"

  
     I rejoined Felice, with an ample amount of food but not quite enough for me to feel comfortable with until morning. We sat down at one of the baby blue tables where my brother Sam and his gang was sitting. At 13 he was one of the youngest campers here. I scraped off as much of the cold spaghetti from my plate. I didn't want to waste it when it could have gone to someone else, someone who I admit I was watching eat from across the room. He was sitting two tables away with a group of other people who could be his age. As much as I tried to focus on the food, my gaze kept wandering toward him. Sam talked about some video game and they ate their chicken and pasta naively. I finished far earlier than them. Felice gave me some of her bread and I assured her I had enough food, even though anxiety was creeping behind my forehead. I remembered shaking and headaches from times before when I didn't eat enough. I pushed the thoughts out of my mind as we cleaned up our dishes. I suggested to Felice that we go sit by the fire in the lounge outside our room.


	2. Chapter 2

     We sat down next to each other on the scratchy couch that was scratchy like tweed but was warm from the fire blazing in the fireplace 4 feet away. No other lights were on except ones from the bunk rooms across the hall. They were full of girls swarming in and out of them with toiletries and phones and instruments and other typical girl things. I laid my head back onto the couch and stared up at the ceiling. The flickering dark orange lights illuminated drooping spider webs in the tall rafters. Tall, dusty windows gave a dull view of the almost black sky, darker silhouettes of trees dancing throughout it. I sank into the couch as the heat from the fire spread through the front of my thighs and crept up to my face. After only a few minutes it became uncomfortable and I got up.

  
     "Wanna go back to the room? It's getting kind of late." I said to Felice. With the events at dinner I didn't really want to risk being the last in the bathrooms. She agreed and we started down the darkened hall. Dim incandescent lights lined up on the ceiling giving us enough light to see where we were going but not much else. The halls and rooms smelled musty but were clean considering mostly teenage girls lived in them.

  
     We reached room 13 which was nearer to the end of the hall where the emergency exit was. The "EXIT" sign cast a bright red glow on the brass number on the door. Felice grabbed a key off of one of her belt loops and unlocked the door. I walked over to the far wall where my bunk was, untying my sweatshirt from around my waist and laid it down at the edge of my bed. Our roommate Genesis was already in bed, reading some book I had heard about many times but had never bothered to read. She was quiet, even quieter than I was. I sat down on the bed. One of the two windows in the room was right next to my bed so I cracked it open and inhaled the relaxing mountain air. Pine trees were only visible through the light of the street lamps that lead to one of the recreational rooms across the way. I closed the window and went to go brush my teeth.

  
     Barely anyone was in the bathroom by the time I got there. Genesis came in shortly after and I brushed my teeth, rushing. I paused after I'd finished, looking at myself in the mirror. It wouldn't have hurt for me to wash my face but I had somehow managed to use up all of my soap in two days. I needed to go get some at the little store down the road. Genesis had finished washing up and turned to me.

     "How was your day?"

  
     I snapped out of my self-indulgent coma. "Good! How was yours?"

  
     "Great! I'm getting the hang of everything now." She was one of the people who brought in one of the more obscure instruments, in her case a flute. She continued, "So you play piano, right?"

  
     I nodded and smiled. "Yeah. I'm also trying a little of everything but that's what I came knowing how to play. Can't play the drums for the life of me, though."

  
     She laughed. "Well, I'll see you in a sec."

  
     I felt bad that I didn't talk to her as much as I did Felice but that's just how it goes with friendships. I packed up my belongings and walked out, the bathroom now deserted. I walked back to the room. Genesis was back in bed reading and Felice was sitting at the desk against the wall. I walked by her and saw various sketches drawn in different colored pens. I got into bed, staring at the wooden planks above me. I began thinking about how they were the only things protecting me from getting crushed by more than a hundred pounds. I turned over.

  
     "Do you know who the guy was behind us in line?" I asked, directed at Felice.

  
     "No..." She answered with a puzzled look on her face and laughed. "Why?"

 

     "I don't know, I was just wondering."

  
      I turned over to face the wall again and fatigue began to set in. So did hunger, to my disappointment. Felice was talking to Genesis about my food situation.

  
     I chimed in, "I'll be fine if I just forget about it and go to sleep."

  
     "I hear they don't lock up the kitchen! If you're sneaky you might be able to grab something once everyone's gone to bed," she said with sparkling eyes. Her curly dark hair had been combed almost perfectly.

  
     I thought about it for a moment.

  
     "I'm sure I'll be fine," I said, reassuring myself even though I could feel a rumble in my stomach. The words were just a distraction.

  
     "Alright," they said simultaneously. Felice had stopped drawing and was closing her sketchbook. She turned off the desk lamp and went to her bunk on top of me. The bunk below Genesis was and always had been empty because we didn't have a fourth roommate. The lack of light made the room feel cozy and I huddled beneath the sheets. My blood felt like it was slowing no matter how hard I tried to fall asleep. God, I hate low blood sugar.

  
     When I finally gave up and turned to my phone, the LCD screen as bright as the lights of heaven told me that it was shortly after midnight. I carefully brought my knees to my chest and tried to sit up without making the bed frame creak. My sweatshirt was still at the foot of the bed so I put it on while illuminated by the light coming from outside the window. I slipped on my shoes, fearing someone would wake up, but if one of them did they both knew where I was going.


	3. Chapter 3

     The floorboards never creaked during the day but it seemed like they couldn't be quiet now. I walked the whole five yards from my bunk to the door. I felt like a criminal in the floodlight as I turned my back to my sleeping roommates and turned the door handle. Outside the room it was even darker. The lights on the ceiling were out. The only light was faintly radiating from the bathroom down the hall. Beyond the window trees swayed in the indefinite night.

  
     My stomach growled and I froze, thinking that someone might hear it in the abyss of silence. I walked down the ragged carpeted hall through the lounge to the front door. The kitchen was just down the way. As far as I knew, none of the inside doors were locked at night and I prayed that that was true. By the time I put my hand on the knob my fear had diminished enough that the creak of the gears inside no longer sounded deafening. I slipped into a spookier, laminate floored hallway. This hall connected our rooms to other places like classrooms and recording rooms. I walked swiftly, the unheated hall and fear caused me to shake lightly as I reached the double doors that led to the kitchen. I felt sinful even though I was only hungry and they should have had enough food for me in the first place. I felt a little bit like someone was watching.

  
     I placed my hand on the metal bar to the door. With the faint light coming in through a skylight I could tell that it had been painted once in an ugly olive green color years ago. The paint had since chipped so that only a lumpy smear remained. I held it until it became as warm as my hand and then I pushed gently. It creaked, but nonetheless it budged and opened into a better-lit room which was the kitchen.

  
     I at first was discouraged at the sight of absolutely no food to be seen on the counters. I then remembered the chefs probably didn't want to leave anything out in the open overnight unless it was something like fruit. The barren kitchen reminded me of something from a military base, with its metal counters and dozens of cupboards. After calming myself, I was drawn to the side of the kitchen where I knew they kept fruit. As I let go of the heavy door, it clicked into place again. There was no way anyone was around to hear it.

  
     There on the counter, in a bowl, was a banana. Although slightly overripe for my taste, it looked like ambrosia to me. I was shaking mostly now from the hunger. My late-night journey was almost complete. I peeled it, struggling a bit at first, and took a bite. When I went back to open the door and make my way back to my room, the bar wouldn't budge at all. I panicked, but then realized there was another door out in the dining hall. I crossed the room, feeling awkward out in the open, and reached another door like the one that was now locked. This one opened. I was now in a newer, more recently renovated part of this building that had fresh blue carpet that looked colorless at this time of night. This is where the little recording studios were. Some people decided to record music towards the end of their camp session, and they came here to do it.

  
     It was almost silent in the kitchen, but in this hallway I could hear more. The faint hum of what sounded like an air conditioner buzzed on somewhere far away. I took a step forward and walked conciously down the hall. It was more calming walking there when I knew no one was bound to be walking through. Lukewarm air that smelled of brand new electrical equipment breezed by my face and was almost nauseating. I held the peel of the banana I had finished in my hand, loose in my grip, as I passed more and more of little dark rooms.


	4. Chapter 4

     About a minute after entering the hallway the dull noise that I had thought was just the air conditioning grew slightly louder. I froze. Down a branched hallway to my left came what sounded like someone playing an acoustic guitar. The emptiness I saw broken only by another window at the end made that hall tease me with the curiosity of what was going on. Uneasiness fogged up right between my eyes, but I went on. As I inched closer to the source of the sound there was no doubt that someone was playing music in one of the smaller studios.

     I crept close to the wall, knowing that there was a good chance that if someone were to catch me now it wouldn't look good on my part. I risked it, because the golden sound of the plucked strings was nice. The musician playing it couldn't possibly be that young, so if they saw me there'd be trouble. I hadn't heard about any late night strolls around camp yet. I assumed they didn't happen. I tiptoed closer to where I suspected the noise was coming from. Peeping, careful, through the tinted window, I could see that there was a faint amount of light coming from the corner of the room. I could now hear them, or him singing and I paused a moment to listen. Whoever it was, his voice sounded like honey and unlike anyone's voice I'd ever heard before. I ducked down, shifted over a bit, and peeked in again, hoping to get a glance of my midnight serenader.

  
     When I popped back up I was shocked to see who was behind the voice. Sitting on a stool in the corner was the man behind me in line at dinner. The same one who insisted I take the food when I felt bad that there wasn't enough for both of us. The same one I may or may have not been thinking about all night after he smiled at me.

  
     He was huddled around an acoustic guitar lighted barely by the screen of his phone. I suddenly wasn't afraid anymore of getting caught. I knew that he could cover for me knowing that we had both been cheated out of food earlier that night. Because of this, I didn't duck down again and risked him seeing me gawking at him through the little window in the dead of night. I was tired and frankly didn't care at this point.

  
     The bluish light from his phone struck my bangs as I crouched uncomfortably. I was half hoping he would see me and half hoping we'd never cross paths again. He was wearing a grey sweater and a scarf and I laughed under my breath. He was wearing the headphones upside down so he wouldn't have to take off the fedora I saw him wearing earlier. I ducked down a little just to listen to him play.

  
     I considered leaving right there, but it sounded so nice. I didn't want to risk missing out on anything if it somehow were to get even better. I sat down and pressed my back against the wall. I thought I could feel the vibrations through the wall but knew that it was definitely my imagination. I wondered why he was here at this hour of night with no one around. Was he allowed to be here? I knew I wasn't and he was still technically a student even though he was older than me; I suspected that the same rules still applied. I prayed that everyone was still asleep and hadn't noticed I'd gone. It surely couldn't had been more than twenty minutes since I'd left my room anyways.

  
     I started getting up again, scratching my palms on the harsh carpet and gently crawling up to the door to watch him again. By then, he was playing a different song that sounded like it was originally not intended for acoustic. He tried over and over to get the right sound. I was close enough that I could see moments of frustration on his face when the chords didn't turn out quite the way he wanted them to. I was watching for an increased amount of time and I felt a deep smile spread across my face. He looked up.

  
     My smile diminished as we locked eyes much in the way of predator and prey. He stopped strumming the guitar as I backed away hoping it wasn't me he'd seen and that the darkness would swallow me up. I should really get back to bed. He didn't move, and after a short period of time to process that he'd just caught someone staring at him in the middle of the night, flashed a sort of polite smile. I smiled back, and he lit up briefly, maybe recognizing me. To my surprise, he beckoned me in with his finger.

  
     I blushed in confusion, but decided to shakily grab the smooth door handle and pull it open. I crept around the door cautiously.

  
     "Hello.." He looked amused.

  
     "Oh," I said, nervous, "sorry to bother you. I just-" I glanced into the hallway, "liked what you were playing."

  
     I watched him as he took off the headphones. He leaned over to drop them gently on the floor and then turned back to me.

  
     "You were in front of me at dinner, right?" He asked, still a wide smile on his face considering I just barged in on him.

  
     I laughed and confirmed. I looked around. The room was dim and the shadows made me notice his cheekbones. He beckoned for me to come in further.

  
     "You can come in, if you want."

  
     I closed the door behind me. "What are you doing in here? It's after midnight."

  
     "Don't tell anyone, but I come here sometimes...to get some peace of mind."

  
     I nodded. "So you're not allowed in here? Well, clearly-"

  
     "Nobody's caught me yet."

  
     I smiled. "Well, you're not necessarily doing anything wrong. I'm sure they wouldn't...send you to the chair or anything like that."

  
     He looked around the room and out the window I had been watching him through. "As long as-" He then put the guitar down, breaking the distraction, and came up to me, extending his arm for a handshake. "I'm sorry. I'm Patrick."

  
     I shook it. Embarrassed because my hands were a bit clammy, I blurted out, "I'm Erin."

  
     He took a moment to rearrange his bangs which had fallen into his eyes. "Nice to meet you. Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier."

  
     I ensured him that that was okay and turned my head towards the door. The light on his phone had dimmed a bit and he tapped it to return it to normal. I spoke up. "I should probably go. I'm not really supposed to be out of my room."

  
     He smirked. "Neither am I"

  
     My face went peach pink again. Sensing my nervousness, probably, he went back to the stool and picked up the guitar again. In the silence I could hear the clunking sound it made when it touched his fingernails. I'd decided that I didn't want to go quite yet. He looked up at me, losing his hat in the process. I rushed to pick it up and returned it to him.

  
     He said softly to me, "I wish there were more place to sit. Are you gonna maybe stay for a while?"

  
     "I want to. My roommates though-"

  
     "I promise I won't keep you that long; I'd kind of like the company."

  
     I was glowing. "I can sit on the ground," I laughed, feeling like a sunburst.

  
     The gentle pressure of the padded wall against my tired back relaxed me. Even though fatigue was crawling through my bones, I didn't seem to feel it anymore. While tuning the guitar, he talked to me.

  
     "These rooms are soundproof so all I have to do is keep the light off. It's almost like I'm not even here."

  
     "Hate to break it to you, but I could hear you from down the hall."

  
     "Oh, really?" The guitar strings sounded tinny as he struck them one by one. "You're the first person to tell me that but I'm not surprised." He grinned, still hunched over with eyes on the neck of his instrument.

  
     I pulled my knees up to my chest and hugged them close to me. "I was hungry and one of my roommates said they don't lock the kitchen." I glanced at my banana peel which I had placed beside me. I almost felt as if we were talking too loud and that someone would hear us. He laughed at my words and seemed done with the tuning. He tried a few chords and looked at me again. "Yeah, I'm only a vegetarian some of the time, so I probably get that less than you do."

 

     "It happened a lot at school, and, well everywhere."

  
     "Huh." He was still focused on the instrument.

  
     The intense lack of light in the room made everything not lit by Patrick's phone seem ominous. It felt like all the shadows had wandered out from the woods and were going to slit my throat.

  
     He started playing a song I hadn't heard before. It drew me in because it sounded like whoever wrote it did it specifically for his voice. I wondered if he wrote his own music. I watched the way he performed as he did so almost feverishly. He caught me ogling and looked amused, but in a way that sent shivers down my core and spread warmth throughout me. I looked away.

  
     When the strumming came to a stop, it felt like it had only been seconds. I realized I hadn't even been paying enough attention to catch any of the lyrics. I spoke up. "I liked that."  
     He brushed it off, acting like he'd just played a song only suitable for toddlers. I followed up, "Did you write it?"

  
     He looked down at the guitar again, almost shyly.

  
     "Yeah, it's, um, one of my band's songs."

  
     I nodded. He continued. He presented himself in a way that almost seemed like he was hiding.

  
     "The one I was playing when you showed up was my solo stuff."

  
     "I really liked that one, too."

  
     "That's nice of you to say. Nobody really says that much about it."

  
     I snickered. "Well that's probably because you're here all the time. Do you play them during the day?"

  
     He thought for a second and shrugged. "They never come up."

  
     "Hm."

  
     I waited for him to reply, say anything at all, but he sat there. I stared at the ceiling. It was too dark to have much interest to me other than creating bright ocular flashes of color among the blackness.

  
     I looked back at him. Our gaze locked again and I wondered if he'd been looking at me the whole time I'd been looking at the ceiling. The light was dim and bluish but it looked like he felt awkward about me seeing him looking at me either. I broke the silence with my now scratchy voice. I cleared my throat.

  
     "Patrick?"

  
     "Yeah?"

  
     "What time is it? I should be heading back."

  
     He fumbled around, still holding the guitar and trying to get a good view of the phone. The screen reflected off his glasses.

  
     "Um. 1:13."

  
     I stood up but blood rushed to my head. I leaned against the wall.

  
     I asked him, "Are you going to go too?" He got off the stool and rummaged around out of sight of the light. He came back with the guitar in its case, the headphones stowed away like they hadn't even been used.

  
     "I am."

  
     "Alright."

  
     He locked his phone, which left us without light except the faint light in the hall that seemed to come from absolutely nowhere. He opened the door and suggested I exit first. I almost tripped on the rough carpet as we entered what felt like the real world again. He got close to me and whispered.

  
     "Are you doing anything tomorrow?" I could almost feel his breath on my neck.

  
     I hesitated for a second, trying to pull my loose schedule out of my mind. "Um, uh, I have class. In Roberts Hall."

  
     We reached the split in the hallway that signified we had to part to get to our rooms. I yawned and he patted me on the shoulder. "You seem like a nice person. I'll see you around." He then left me in the vast hallway. I watched strenuously in the dark as he skipped away with the guitar case that seemed way too big for him to carry at his short size. A moment of confusion passed, and then I realized which way I needed to go. I headed down the opposite hall until I found the door to my wing of rooms. Like I had before, I carefully pushed it open, but this time not nearly as scared and with an acceptable level of blood sugar. I slipped like a spirit into my room, and although excited, the fatigue had finally caught up to me. It was nearly twenty after one as I slipped off my shoes and crawled into bed. The frame creaked and the soft linen grazed my cheek. My heavy head rested on the pillow.


	5. Chapter 5

     The following morning my head was achy with fatigue and my blood sugar had dropped once again. I groaned and rolled over to greet the apricot sunrise through the boughs of the trees. The room was colder than normal and I found the window was open a crack. I forced it down until it closed. Felice budged above me and with a lifeless voice complained about the change in temperature.

  
     "I fixed it," I muttered. Genesis seemed to still be fast asleep. I stretched, yawning. My mouth felt like I hadn't brushed my teeth in days, probably an after effect of the banana from hours earlier.

  
     "What time is it?" She moaned.

  
     I grabbed my phone. At 13% battery it still stood from last night. I gave her the time. It was 6:46.

  
     Genesis rolled over. "Time to get up, then?"

  
     "Yeah," I answered.

  
     Felice hopped down from her bed, rattling the floorboards with the impact. She went over to the dresser to pick out clothes while I looked at my phone, its battery draining the more I stared at the lock screen.

  
     "I bet you're hungry. Didn't end up taking our advice?" Felice turned to me.

  
     I fibbed, "Nah; I went right to sleep."

  
     I threw my legs over the side of the bed. Lacking the warmth from my sheets, goosebumps popped up and I shivered with the warm early sun grazing my back.

  
     "Breakfast's in ten minutes," I said, "Let's hurry."

  
     I got up and went through my drawer in the dresser, too. I picked out a plain gray t-shirt and some loose shorts, along with knee-high socks. It would warm up later; such is California. I got dressed in a rush, hungry but also excited to be among the rest of the camp when there was a chance I would see Patrick again. I brushed my hair, grimacing when it caught in the knots that were deep-set from my sleep. Felice and Genesis called for me to come when they were already halfway out the door.

  
     We made sure that we got in line right away without waiting for the human race to die out first. The kitchen was full of sounds of sizzling breakfast foods and was warm like the inside of a coffee house late at night. The plates were warm again and I excitedly piled fruit and eggs onto mine. It was as if I were storing up for winter in case they were out of food ever again. Felice was behind me and Genesis close behind her. I peeked back to see their piles of hash browns and sausage patties. We reached the end of the line and picked up our orange juice.  
     People had packed themselves into the hall. There were too many bodies to pinpoint individuals so we made our way back to a table near the wall like we were in horrible traffic. There were a few splatters of coffee on the table but relatively enough space for three people to sit.

  
     Genesis tapped me on the shoulder. She spoke among the roar of the room: "I'm gonna go over there," she pointed, "there's more room." I was about to see if some people could scoot over to fit her but she had already gone. Felice was sitting down, avoiding the spilled food, and I joined her. We were sitting with a group of strange teenagers. They looked like they came from somewhere in southern California from their bright blond hair. Felice sat next to one of the boys and I sat at the end of the table, nearly falling off of my seat.

  
     I poked my fork through a large chuck of pineapple while Felice chatted away with the boy next to her. I watched them which called for an introduction.

  
      "This is Cal. He says if we ever need a drummer for anything, he's the one to call."

  
     I laughed. "That one to _cal_ ," I joked. His brown eyes were deep and it felt like they were dissecting me.

  
     Putting the pineapple in my mouth, I scanned the room for any familiar faces. I hadn't even seen my brother let alone Patrick amongst this mess of people. The juice ran down my throat. Felice was still talking to Cal as I finished my fruit and moved on to a pancake. She'd barely even touched her food and I wondered if what she was feeling was anything like what I had felt last night.

  
     I leaned my plate and then told Felice I was gonna go take care of the dishes. She told me to wait for a minute while she finished what she was eating. I waited with patience, arms on the tabletop, head still a little foggy from sleepiness.

  
     Then somebody tapped me on the arm when I was looking in Felice's direction. I turned around.

  
     "Hey, what-" I grabbed at a little folded piece of binder paper as Patrick passed it to me and then immediately continued walking. He wore a shirt that bled from purple to blue and sunglasses even though the sun had barely come up yet. I clenched the paper in my hand tightly as he disappeared from sight.

  
     "I'm ready," Felice said to me. Cal was getting up with his group and their dishes. I shoved the paper into my pocket, hoping it wouldn't fall out. I grabbed my plate and followed her to the dish station.


	6. Chapter 6

     I dropped off the dish and stuck close to Felice as she lingered next to Cal. They were talking but I couldn't hear over the chatter of the room even though it was beginning to die down. The sun was high above the horizon by now and I could see it glaring through the window, the light it emitted white and clean like porcelain. She came back up to me as I was unknowingly blinding myself.

  
     "Alright, we can go now." She looked like she could tell I was getting impatient. I took my phone out to check the time. She was walking away towards the door that lead outside so I caught up to her.

  
     "We've got seven minutes to get to Roberts Hall." I said. I tried to match her gait but she was walking faster than me, all while on her phone.

  
     "I got his number," she said excitedly. "I might meet him after this."

  
     "Ooh." I cooed, realizing that this was the perfect excuse to go off somewhere and look for Patrick. I remembered the paper in my pocket and pulled it out. By coincidence, inside the fold was a phone number followed by a little smiley face.

  
     I followed up with her. "Meeting boys at _summer camp_? Risky!"

  
     The morning was brisk and dull colored like autumn. As we stepped on the lawn to cross it to the road, it sagged under our feet and our breath swirled around us like smoke. I shoved my hands inside my shallow pockets, nestled in with the piece of paper. The lawn water soaked into my shoes so I walked faster.

  
     We reached the edge of the lawn and turned onto the concrete paths. They lead to the various recreational halls used for classes and jam sessions and other activities of the like.

  
     "You should go." I told her after a while of not speaking. "I can always do something without you. I actually have things I should do today."

  
     "Okay." We'd reached the door of the hall.

  
     Inside was again much warmer and cozier. We found our instructor and got right to work on the music. About an hour went by and the whole time I that piece of paper waiting in my pocket was distracting me. Felice sat near me, playing different pieces on the piano as I attempted to play my own. I was so zoned out I couldn't remember what I was playing, drowning in the lack of sleep and buzz from the night before. By the time we were done, chemicals were sloshing around in my veins and around my chest and I considered calling the number. It was now crumbled from me folding and unfolding it over and over.

  
     While staring at it and sitting on the piano bench, Felice's phone rang which further compelled me to call. _Just call_ , I thought. _But what if he's busy? I don't want to interrupt._ Felice was giggling nervously and I figured it was Cal who had gotten hold of her. I stood up. If she was going to meet with him, now was the perfect time for me to call Patrick whether I liked it or not. I had to do it or it would destroy me inside. Felice hung up.

  
     "That was Cal. He wants me to meet him on the field."

  
     "Alright." I said, without letting any further explanation.

 

     "Sorry to bail on you."

  
     "No, it's totally fine. I can survive on my own." I glanced around cautiously. Now I'd be alone and I'd have to call to regain my composure. She smiled and skipped off out the door. The room smelled strongly of wood, like the hall had just been built. It left a headache impression on the inside of my skull. I went to go walk outside to make the call but put the phone immediately back in my pocket once I saw who was walking in.

  
     "Hey!" I yelled across the room as Patrick walked in quite nonchalantly, still wearing those sunglasses. He noticed me, waved, and walked over to me as I stood in the middle of the open hall.

  
     I whipped out the little paper from my pocket, which looked like it was far from treated with love at this point.

  
     "Thanks for this. I was gonna call 'cause my friend has plans with someone but I didn't want to bother you."

  
     He shoved his hands in his pockets. "I was gonna come find you. Took me a while to find this hall."

  
     I smiled, now knowing that he wanted to be around me maybe half as much as I did around him.

  
     "So you're free?"

  
     I nodded.

  
     "Wanna go do something?"

  
     I nodded again with vigor.

  
     He grabbed my arm, "C'mon."


	7. Chapter 7

 He dragged me out the door and back outside, which still felt fresh on my bare arms in the late morning. My heart was pumping hard which silenced me as we weaved down paths studded by giant redwood trees and oaks. I was panting.

  
    "Where are we going?"

  
    We slowed down suddenly, and he pulled me off the path and into the trees. He didn't reply.

  
    "Patrick."

  
    We then stopped, and he pulled me off to the side of an exceptionally huge redwood tree. The trunk had been hollowed out by some natural cause and had a hole in it large enough for a person to crawl through. We were both breathing heavily and all I could hear for a minute was the blood rushing through my head. I leaned up against the tree and watched him as he tried to talk but was too out of breath to do so.

  
    "Here," he sighed, "get inside."

  
    "Oh," I stared into the dark cavernous trunk, "ok."

  
    I placed one foot on the edge of the hole. The cold sunless air in the forest gave me goosebumps so I rubbed them briskly in the hopes they'd go away. I gripped part of the tree. It was fibrous and rough and I dug into it with my fingernails, shimmying down until my shaking leg hit something below me. 

  
    "Careful. I don't know what's down there," he said from behind me.

  
    "What? Why are we going in here?"

  
    He spoke softly, "It's a hiding place."

  
    I laughed and made sure my foot was truly secure before I brought my other leg in. I was unsure whether two people could fit in here with enough room and it was still too dark to tell. I stood firmly so I let go of the tree. Some of the fibers of its bark stuck to my sweaty palms so I picked them off.

  
    "What's the holdup?" I could feel his presence right behind me and it made the back of my neck hot.

  
    "Oh, uh, nothing. Hard to see. Do you have a flashlight?"

  
    "Don't you have a phone that can do that?"

  
    "Oh, yeah." I chuckled, bringing my phone out of my pocket and switched on the flashlight, which sent a bright stream of light into the cavern. I ducked and took a few steps forward, dodging cobwebs. He hopped down behind me.

  
    "You're a tough cookie. I know a lot of people who'd scream with all these," he gestured towards the cobwebs, which lined the top of the cavern. He patted my shoulder and I almost flinched, forgetting he was there for the moment.  
    "Go further. There's more light up ahead. That's where we have to go."

  
    "Why, though?" I figured that if he didn't answer this question, I didn't need to bother asking any more. He didn't even speak, just expected me to follow his directions. I took more steps on the uneven flooring of this rotted out tree. He squeezed past me and lead the way. Although he wasn't much taller than me, he almost had to crouch to avoid hitting anything above him, whether it was the ceiling or a spider's home. The moist redwood needles squished under my feet and I began to see natural light again. Patrick's features were illuminated by the soft light coming in from another, much smaller hole in the trunk. I walked up to it and peered through.

  
    "What's that?"

  
    He came up and stuck his head right next to mine so he could see. I twitched.

  
    "That's the archery range."

  
    I could see now. Off to the far left obscured by branches were red and white targets. I could hear the whizz of arrows every so often and occasionally see them.

  
    "I heard someone say that they'd come here and fuck with the archers. Being here now, I'm not exactly sure how."  
    I laughed, "They're a little far off aren't they?"

  
    "Pssh...I bet if I could throw something from here I'd make it."

  
        I looked around. "There's nothing to throw inside here. It's all dirt and rot."      

  
        "No. Here." He reached outside our little window and grabbed something from off to the side. It was a rock about the size of his palm and covered in moist dirt.

  
        He pushed me gently to the side. "I don't want to knock you out."

  
        He threw the rock forcefully given what space he had to in the tree. It crashed through branches but in the end landed barely in range of the line of fire. 

  
        I rested my arm on the edge of the window, fingers trailing in the flaky dirt. "Impressive."

  
        He pulled me back in. "What if they see? Stay out of sight."

  
        "Oh, yeah," I realized, "I suppose we're not really allowed to be in a tree or a stump or whatever."

  
        He laughed and pulled me back into the shadows to further our disguise.

  
        Finally getting his attention, I asked, "Why are we here? I mean, why did you want to be around me today? We just met and-"

  
        "Um, I guess I just think you seem like a nice person. You have good energy. It's calming, really."

  
        "Oh," I grinned widely and warmly. "I get that often. Almost like I'm some sort of wood nymph or something like that where I radiate an aura."

  
        "Oh, shh." He had noticed something outside the hollow. 

  
        "What?" I whispered hoarseley. He pulled me back deeper until my back hit a wall. 

  
        He spoke close to me. "I think they noticed the rock. Wait until they go away." 

  
        I could hear people arguing outside.

  
        "No, I swear there was something! It came from this direction." 

  
        I heard rustling and a shadow crossed swifty in front of our window. Baggy camouflage cargo pants passed and crunched on the forest floor. The short distance that these people were from use caused me to flinch. My sudden movement pressed me up against Patrick's chest for a moment. Until the crunching footsteps were far off we stayed in contact, long enough for me to feel a few beats of his heart through my shoulder.

  
        "Sorry," I murmured sincerely.

  
        "No, it's," he stopped as if the investigators were coming back, "it's okay."

  
        A cobweb dropped onto one of my eyelashes and I brushed it away. 

  
        "Are they gone?" I asked to break the silence he was creating that was almost concerning. 

  
        "Hopefully." He whispered still, even though I had spoken in a normal volume.

  
        Standing cramped in the dark, damp corner, I took a step out into the sunbeam created by the window. I walked up to it and peeked out, ready at any moment to dart back in. Everything looked like it was when we first entered. I walked back to Patrick, who'd merged a bit from the now spooky looking corner. I went up to him and reached out to grab something off his shirt. 

  
        "Uh. Let me get this." One of the bountiful cobwebs had gotten on it and I flicked it onto the ground. He smiled sheepishly and got even closer to me. The back of my neck heated up like my face was in the glow of the sun. 

  
        "So...um...where do we go now? Do we-" I asked but was immediately cut off when in my blind state he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. He held my face gently as my vision reddened from the glaring sun. Sweet shock surged through my jaw as if I'd bitten into something decadent. He pulled away for a second.

  
        "We don't have to be anywhere right now," he reached out to put his hand on my hip, grip light and shaky. He pulled me out of the sunbeam, eyes nervous but begging for allowance. "No need to rush." 

  
        "Shh. Wait." I pressed my finger to his lips as he pushed me gently up against the side of the cavern. "We need a backup plan. What if someone finds us?" My heart beat in the chasm of my chest. The dusty aroma around me filled my lungs as my body fought for air. He brushed hair out of my face. 

  
        "Well. You're just gonna have to pray that doesn't happen."

  
        The hollowed-out tree was nearly dark except the light streaming in and creating a sort of halo around Patrick's head. He paused a second to take a few breaths that I felt press me further in to the wall. He put his hand further up my side this time and dug in closer to me, thrusting his hips into mine. A half-moan, half-squeak forced itself out of my lungs as I felt every reason why I'd be compelled to let this go on further. This rough motion knocked the hat off his head and I giggled as he buried his face between my chin and collarbone. The friction between us didn't stop as I ran my fingers through his hair. 

  
        I felt his hot breath on my neck as I touched his hips and ran my hands where his waistband met his skin. 

  
        I was shook out of my lustful state when I heard other people shouting in the distance. He must have heard it too, for he stopped going at my neck. He pulled away from me to retrieve his hat from the ground and shake it off. He wrapped his arms around me again long enough to peck me on the cheek. 

  
        "Don't you think it's almost lunch time?" He had a devilish look on his face, but he finally gave me enough space to take a step. I pulled out my phone, to give us light for the journey back up to sunlight and to also check the time to make sure we hadn't been gone too long. 

  
        It was merely minutes before the cafeteria opened for lunch. We could make it there before last night's situation happened again. I followed closely behind him. When we reached the entrance, I put my hand on his arm. It was covered in little goosebumps. 

  
        "We have like a minute before lunch is served."

  
        "Oh. Thanks." He smiled at me as if this wasn't just a one-time thing and he genuinely liked where things were going. "I'll make sure you get something to eat, this time." I laughed, noting his raised eyebrow as he turned around and lifted himself out of the cavern. After a bit of scrambling, he stood, far taller than I was, looking down on me like he was a giant. He reached his hand out for me to grab and I nervously stepped in the pockets of rotting wood to get up to him. 

  
        He pulled me out and we squinted in the bright daylight after being in the dark for so long. The road wasn't far off and we saw some campers walking along it in the distance. He grinned widely, "Hurry! Before anyone notices we're here!"


	8. Chapter 8

        We jogged over to the road, hopping over roots and bark and other foresty things. 

        We had slowed to a fast walk when my phone started vibrating and so I picked up the call; it was Felice. 

  
        "Hey."

  
        "Where are you? Lunch is starting."

  
        "I'll be right there. I'm- well I don't know where I am but I'm on my way."

  
        "Alright. I'll see you soon. I got us a table in the corner."

  
        "Bye."

  
        I put the phone back in my pocket. My feet were achy from the strenuously fast walking but I sucked it up and kept up with Patrick anyway. 

  
        "So, do you want to have lunch with us or do you have somewhere else to be?"

  
        He directed me onto a wider road which made me think we must be getting closer. "If you want me to; of course I will."

  
        "Cool. It's just my friend's got a whole table and it would be a shame to put all that space to waste. I doubt she made that many more friends since I saw her last."

  
        We reached the dining hall and walked in, arms brushing against each other. We didn't flinch. I felt the contact to be comfortable by now. I walked us up to the line, which had diminished to a few rushed, timid people. 

  
        Sandwiches lay plentiful on the trays. I felt the universe had done me a few favors today. I clutched the mottled plastic tray tightly.  My blood was like ice at the thought of having to sit back with Felice with the history that Patrick and I now had.  We traced the wall as we found Felice, sitting on the far side of the room at a small table. Next to her was Cal; I almost rolled my eyes but realized her sudden interest in him wasn't much different from my situation. 

  
     I walked around to an empty seat and set down my tray. They were face-deep in what looked like elaborate turkey sandwiches and only noticed us when they stopped to breathe.

  
     "Hi," I said, awed by their deep dedication to their meal. Felice's eyes met mine as I stood above her.

  
     "Oh, hey."

  
     I said hi to Cal, too, but he seemed even more engaged in his food than Felice. He said hi, though, straightened his posture, and scooted a bit to the left, away from her. It was almost as if he was trying to disprove any suspicion that I could have had at this point.

  
     I slid into my seat, sending a quick, amused glance at Patrick. He smiled cheekily.

  
     "Oh, um.." I'd forgotten to introduce him to the two and remembered my nervousness about doing so that I had been feeling up until now, "This is Patrick." I considered saying more but felt it would be best if I just left it at that. They greeted him with the same incomparable enthusiasm I had received walking up. 

  
     Now halfway through their meal, the pair was starting to slow, and I took my first bite into my simple vegetable-and-cheese sandwich. Felice was finishing off the crust.

  
     "We started eating 'cause you took too long. Sorry. Where were you?"

  
     "Um," I turned to Patrick, hoping for an answer. He came through.

  
     "Over at the north side of camp. At the archery range."

  
     "Yeah." It wasn't even technically a lie, because we were there, physically. We just weren't attending the archery range.

 

     "Oh. Was it fun?" Felice asked. 

  
     Patrick rushed in, "Oh, yeah." He threw a quick wink at me and I smiled mid-sandwich.

  
     "So," Felice mentioned, "It's about one." She was staring at her phone screen. "Are we gonna do anything else?"

  
     I couldn't tell if she was talking to me or to Cal, and I realized this with a response stuck in my throat. I coughed to cover it up. But she turned her head to face me as I was busy admiring the paint on the walls.

  
     "Everyone. We don't have anything else planned all day. How about you guys?"

  
     Patrick shook his head. I didn't have anything else to do. Cal and Felice began discussing what to do but I realized I might want to add the phone number in my pocket to my phone. I took them both out; the paper looked no different than it did before I had got myself a bit too carried away. 

  
     Not wanting to bring it up in person, I immediately typed in the number to the outgoing text field and began typing out feverishly with my fingers. The little animated keyboard lagged as I typed in, "You wanna hang around a little bit longer?" I hesitated before I typed, "I kinda wanna finish what we started" and added a little winking smiley face before sending.

  
     "Erin." Patrick nudged me with his shoulder. 

  
     "Oh, what?" I looked, up, confused now that everyone's eyes were on me. "Did I-"

  
     "We were asking you if you wanna come hang out with Felice and I. Patrick, too." Cal's gaze was kind and understanding even though I felt like a puppy during a storm with all the sudden nerves. Patrick had got my text and seemed to be reading it as I nodded vigorously, relieved he was coming with us again. 

  
     I turned to him and murmured."That's from me." 

 

     He chuckled. "I figured." 

  
     He stared further at it. "Just gotta add you to my contacts." I stared at his bluish eyes but snapped away as Felice and Cal stood up. They headed to put their dishes away but yelled over their shoulders, "We'll meet you there!"

  
     Patrick was shoving the last of his sandwich into his mouth and I hoped he knew where they were talking about. He picked up his tray and motioned to me, while still chewing. 

  
     Dropping off the plates, I asked him, "Where are we going?"

  
     "Same place we were last night."


	9. Chapter 9

     "Oh. Okay." I was curious to see how those rooms looked during the day. The pile of used trays was monstrous now that there were barely a dozen people left in the hall. I balanced mine on the top of the pile precariously. I followed Patrick out the door into the courtyard. He slowed, letting me catch up to him.

  
     "I was gonna apologize," he turned to me, the sound of youth chattering ambient and distanced, "for what I did. I didn't want to to bring it up when I was with your friends, though." He paused as the passing campers made it too loud to continue. "But when I got your text I figured it was okay."

  
     "Oh," I blushed. I slowed down and so did he. "It was fine. No need to apologize, really. We can…talk about it when we're, like…done with Cal and Felice."

  
     I looked back at him; he had a smile on his face, one that made his cheeks big, and I sighed happily. As we were about to enter one of the buildings I glanced at Sam out of the corner of my eye, recognizing an eternally familiar face. I felt a little bad that I had almost forgotten he was here the entire day. Patrick held the door open for me and we passed silently into the bitter, chemical air conditioning.

  
     "They're just down the hall." He said absently.

  
     My feet scuffed on the thin, navy carpet. The halls looked different in daylight, less magical and more practical. The building was modern looking, it must have been built recently.

  
     We ended up outside one of the doors similar to the one we were at the previous night. The little window was barely at my height. Lights were on inside, and they cast a cozy tangerine glow on the padded walls and thick glass.

  
     "Nice during the day, isn't it? I don't wanna to think about how much these would cost." Patrick stared without expression or even a blink, pushing through the door to Cal and Felice inside. Cal was in the back, toying around with a drum set covered in dings and dents. The crashes and thumps made me flinch each time, as if they were driving bullets into my skull from across the room.

  
     Felice was facing away from us as I sat down on a stool. Cal saw us and acknowledged it. He thankfully stopped hitting the set.

  
     "Uh, I should probably do this a little lighter." He flicked his bangs across his face, they were the color of beach sand.

  
     Felice turned to me, "We couldn't find one with a piano or anything, really, but I guess Cal wants to show off for now." She smiled but then got a bit carried away, cheekbones expressing her interest in Cal and his percussion skills.

  
     "Yeah, you don't want to put a hole in those," Patrick walked up to Cal sitting at the set, tapping the snare, "they've got some wear."

  
     "Do you play?" Cal asked him. They looked more like a student-teacher pair than both campers. I turned to Felice as he replied, "Oh, yeah. My first instrument." She came up to me.

  
     "Did you know he plays the drums, too?"

  
     I imagined our acquainting last night. I mean, sometimes when you play one, you play them all.

  
     "No." I shook my head, "No idea."

  
     She sat on one of the stools next to me, watching them act like children around something as simple as a drum set.

  
     "Where'd you even meet him, anyway?"

  
     My face burned up and the butterflies that were in chrysalis earlier at lunch emerged.

  
     "Uh," I panicked, thinking I was taking to long to respond, "earlier today, after you left to go hang with Cal."

  
     "Oh, okay." I hoped it was enough. I heard her murmur among the crashing of the symbol, "How old is he, anyway?"

  
     Worried, I finally awoke from my anxious, embarrassed introspection to the sound of an elaborate drum solo. I looked up. Cal was clapping after it finished, obviously not the one at the set, so I turned to see who'd performed it. Patrick was the one sitting at the set, a smug yet still humble smile on his pink lips. I waited to speak, fearing the awed silence.

  
     "Whoa, man." Cal broke it with his voice, reminiscent of someone who spent their time at surfing shacks all summer.

  
     "Patrick, I didn't know you could drum." My face still felt hot from Felice's questions minutes before. I must have looked shocked, because Patrick laughed, got up, and came to sit next to me, patting my shoulder. His hair was more unruly than it had been earlier, and Cal tossed his fedora to him from across the room like a frisbee.

  
     "Cal's turn," he said, trying to bring the spotlight off of what I had perceived were some impressive skills. Felice eyed us suspiciously and I tried to shake it off.

  
     Midst the ruckus during Cal's set, Patrick nudged me, using some sort of body language to imply that he wanted to know the time, so I clicked on my phone.

  
     "It's three!" I spoke clearly, letting him see the screen. He patted my knee.

  
     "Patience, you little whippersnapper." I then focused on Cal as to not catch Felice's attention that I was being slightly flirty.  
"He's good." He spoke closely to my ear.

  
     "You were good, too," I blushed. Every hit of the snare sent bolts into my skull, but by this time I didn't notice it much.

  
     Cal was banging on the cymbals repeatedly when I noticed another, blaring noise.

  
     "Wait," I nudged Patrick on the thigh. "Do you.."

  
     "Ah, yeah. Shit." He grumbled, "What a time for a fire drill."


	10. Chapter 10

     The flashing red light from the fire alarm was pulsing erratically. Cal stopped playing the drums when he noticed us react, and only then could we hear the full force of the blaring siren. If my ears had been numbed from the exposure to the drums, the alarm sent tremors through them once more. 

     "DOES IT HAVE TO BE THIS LOUD?" I shouted to Felice as she came over to grab her bag. We made our way calmly toward the door. Cal's drum stick came crashing down one last time on the cymbal, which was a preferred sound when the fire alarm was screaming much louder than necessary. Felice disappeared behind me as I followed Patrick out the studio door.

  
     It was 3:08 when we filed out of the building like pigs to the slaughterhouse. A handful of other musicians followed behind us. I cantered up next to Patrick so we could keep in touch.

  
     "Looks like our plans are canceled now," I said, walking through the door into the heavy summer inferno. A devilish grin grew on my face, one that I wore when I became comfortable with people.

  
     He looked at me almost as if I were his out-of-control teenage daughter in a teasing sort of way. 

  
     His expression changed, and he asked me a question.

  
     "Where do we go for fire drills?" 

  
     I shrugged, but then some rough-looking teenage boy butted in beside us. He had sprouting stubble and concave eyes. "We don't have fire drills here." He tried to slip away but when I blurted out, "Wait. what do you mean?" he lingered.

  
     His Boston accent shone through, "I've been coming here for like 5 years. Never been any fire drills." He disappeared back into the stream, which had grown to the size of about a couple dozen people, winding down the concrete paths between white washed walls like salmon. I urged myself to get lost in the movement of the crowd, rather than my scrambled head. I sniffed the air and if I focused it almost smelled like a campfire. This tore at my gut and I thought about what the stranger had said.

  
     "I guess," Patrick gazed into the crowd we were in, "we just follow everyone else." We were inching forward.

  
     I heard Felice's voice behind me, and something poked my back which I assumed must have been her. "Go to the soccer field."

  
     We started to squeeze through the crowd in that direction.

  
     "C'mon," I urged on, interlocking fingers with him, pulling us through the tight web of bodies.

  
     The crowd dispersed gradually as we got closer to the edge of the stream. I knew how to get to the soccer field without going the conventional way. A few others broke off from the branch and joined us, inching around the library to the back entrance to the field.

  
     Felice and Cal were ahead of us by a few yards. I skipped up to them, barging in on their whispered, blushed conversation.

  
     "Did you hear the guy behind Patrick and I?" I felt awkward for interrupting something that could have been private. Patrick caught up to me and listened in. "He said there's never been a fire drill as long as he's been here."

  
     Felice looked at me while walking. Her face was almost expressionless. "Yeah. I heard some girls talking,  too." 

  
     Patrick interrupted, "So it's not a drill?" He then apologized for barging in.

  
     "No one said it was a drill, but I haven't seen any staff since lunch."

  
     "Maybe someone just pulled it as a joke? That happened the first day of my sophomore year." I felt it necessary to share my insight. 

  
     Patrick pulled me to the side before I inadvertently ran through a small shrub. "Let's focus on all getting there first. Then they'll either tell us or I can ask."

  
     I steered back onto the pathway. We rounded the other wall of the library to find the open soccer field, dozens of bodies on the sloped hill, watching down on the new arrivals that flowed in. Thin clouds flowed freely through the sky in the light breeze. They filtered through the sunlight as though it were autumn here in the California mountains. 


	11. Chapter 11

     They forced us towards another group of people at the side of the field and because we got there early, we waited for the field to fill up. To our relief, our little corner was shielded from the sunlight by a tangled tree whose leaves littered the ground beneath us. 

     I turned around and sat down quickly, ramming my tailbone into the uncomfortably moist earth beneath the tree. The ground felt like it hadn't been warm in days.

  
     We sat in a line under that tree as if we were in some old movie, comrades united by some mischance.

   
     "Oh, yeah, look." I noticed it now as the clouds that had soared so quickly over us barely a minute before weren't clouds but steamy billows of smoke, conspicuously white. The wet earth began to seep into my jeans and I squirmed. Felice leaned against me, and confused why she wasn't distracted with Cal, I noticed he was down the hill, talking with someone who looked like they might know what's going on.

  
     "Where's your boy?" I said uninterested to Felice as some girls sat next to Patrick on the other side of me, forcing them to squeeze us into a person sandwich.

  
     She replied as I scanned the crowd for Genesis, Cal's friends, and my brother.

  
    "He said he was gonna go figure out what's going on, how long we're gonna be here, et cetera."

  
     "Oh, okay." The once campfire-like smell from when we left the studio had grown to obnoxious, chemical fumes. I coughed lightly as the constant pressure of physical contact began feeling alien. It felt like we had the worst lawn seats for the third World War.

  
     Cal came trekking back up the hill, giving a  _well, what are we gonna do about it_  glare to us, intensely blond hair easy to spot. He squeezed in next to Felice in the quickly diminishing space we had left.

  
     "Okay, so this is what I heard." He turned to face the group as best he could. "So a fire or something started in the staff kitchen but somehow no one really caught it in time so we're kinda screwed for a bit." He laughed a bit at the end. Patrick thought it was no laughing matter. 

  
     "That's horrible. Everything's under control?"

  
     "I didn't ask." 

  
     My heart felt a little like I'd dropped it on the floor from the discouraging news. The sizzling smoke was still coming strong. I bit into my shirt and then pulled it over my nose to try and mask the smell. It was still there, but it smelled more like me. I sent a hot breath down my chest. 

  
     "How long are we gonna be stuck here?" Felice asked Cal. "It's hot."

  
     I shifted a little. It  _was_  hot, as I noticed my shoulder was sticking to Patrick's from the sweat. 

  
     "Ugh," Cal groaned, then stood up, willing to sacrifice his comfort for the knowledge of the group. He tiptoed awkwardly into the pockets of hill that weren't filled with chattering campers. They didn't seem much more concerned than we were. They looked like a living blanket on top of the lawn.

  
     He returned midst my crowd-related daydreaming and sighed forcefully, laying back into the shade behind us.

  
     "What? How long are we out here?" Felice asked. She was strangely accustomed to him after not even a day of knowing him. Patrick's elbow was resting against my side but it didn't occur to accuse myself of the same.

  
     "They're not sure. They won't even tell me any details!" He complained, his hair had fallen into his face and he blew it up with a sassy, forced exhale. 

 

     "That's it," Patrick securely positioned his fedora on his head. "I'll go ask."

  
     He stood up. Uncomfortable from the sudden lack of warmth he was providing me with, my right side felt awkward and empty. I scrambled to my knees, leaves and dirt sticking to them, legs aching. "I'll come with you." It felt weird to not be attached at the hip as we had before. It felt weirder to realize I'd become the clingy girlfriend after less than 12 hours. 

  
     He didn't acknowledge my offer but didn't decline it either. He navigated down the hill with more precision than Cal had. I mirrored shakily and off-balance. 

  
     I quickly fell behind and noticed him, yards ahead, talking to an older woman clutching a clipboard tightly to her chest. I hobbled over the last few careless, sprawled teenagers and hopped in close to them.

  
     He'd cut to the chase by the time I'd arrived, and was carrying the conversation quite well from my understanding. The woman, however, kept glancing between him, the clipboard, and the surprisingly obedient crowd.

  
     "I'm. It's hard to take role right now." 

  
     He backed away a bit submissively. "Oh, sorry for interrupting. It's just my friend has been trying to get information from you and I was just wondering if I can find out what's going on. You know, for peace of mind."

  
     "Mhmm." She glanced at Cal, sitting far up on the hill, with a look of disinterest. She then looked at me as if I were a bit too young to be following Patrick around. She took her gaze away from the campers and turned to him, speaking softly.

  
     "We've got the fire under control now, but as of about a half hour ago it spread to some of the living quarters in the upper wing." I sighed, relieved a bit. Our room was in the lower wing. She continued, "Most of the staff have been called out to assist with other…ordeals… and we're not sure at what time you will be able to return to them, or at all." Patrick nodded, understanding. I did the same, watching him with his hands in his pockets in the relaxing atmosphere of mountainside near-dusk.

  
     I stretched. She spoke slightly softer as some a group passed by. "We're probably gonna have to start the sleep-out a night early. You should stay put, for now, though" 

  
     "One second," she stopped us before we left. She pointed at me. "Erin?.."

  
     I replied with my last name. She had to take us in role, too.

  
     "Ah. Thank you. And you're Patrick. Stump."

  
     He nodded.

  
     He thanked her, and gathered me to go tell the rest. It was getting darker and the lighting reminded me of lavender. I asked him while stepping over legs, "So I guess we'll be here a while?" We sat down next to our group. 

  
     "Oh, yeah," he cleared his throat, "she said before you got there to be prepared for a long night. You know, with no strict supervision." He made one brief moment of intense eye contact with me, half-biting his lip while cracking it with a cheesy smile. A roaring warm feeling started in my abdomen and flamed up into my face. Felice nudged me, noticing our return. 

  
     "Did she say anything?"

  
     I turned to her. "Yeah. First off, she doesn't like Cal. Second, we might be out here for the night. Patrick pried it out of her with his charm." Patrick shrugged goofily.

  
     "Wait." Cal had been listening in. "Why doesn't she like me?" 

  
     "I dunno," I replied, but I could almost see it in his half surfer boy, half angsty teen look. 

  
     "But why do we have to stay here? Can't we go back to our rooms?"

  
     "Uh." My voice shook a bit even though it wasn't that personally upsetting to me. "It spread to some of the rooms."

  
     Felice and Cal looked on, both looking uncomfortably panicked.

  
     "Upper wing," Patrick added in, voice lowered as if he was tired of breaking the news all afternoon.

  
     Felice's face returned to normally concerned, but unfortunately Cal's just grew worse. I was the only one looking at him and all my feelings dropped to my gut. "Your room's there, isn't it?"

  
     "Yeah."

  
     The other two became distracted because now someone was getting the crowd's attention over a megaphone. I was starting to grow goosebumps and my back ached from my posture as I listened in. 

  
     It was hard to tell what was being said with our distance, but I focused all my brainpower on making the vocal sounds into words.

  
     "Fire on the…Tuesday's campout has been moved to tonight…This field and Johnson's Field are on limits…We will be distributing as many sleeping pads as we have…Hope you brought your jackets…Entrance to your rooms will not be allowed…"

  
     I sighed into Patrick's shoulder, closing my eyes. "Anarchy," I mumbled. He smelled like redwood dust. I figured I did too.

  
     Felice was giggling softly. I looked up. "Co-Ed, largely unsupervised." She said it softly, as if it could curse us and we'd be permanently separated by gender by a large brick wall; contact only allowed on Sundays in three minute intervals. I assumed as soon as they could. the Calice bunch would be off, off to do whatever it is they had done this morning. 

  
     The woman with the megaphone had stopped speaking, and I hadn't been listening, so I hoped it wasn't important.  
     "Better get comfortable! We'll be here all night, folks!" Cal announced to our group and the people surrounding us, visibly annoyed. He sat, collecting up space to sleep in. 

  
     "You know," Felice said, "there's gonna be more space once some people leave for the other field. Give it a few minutes."  
     Patrick subtly leaned in to me, whispering into my ear, "I'm okay with going to the other field…if that's cool with you." His hand slid from his thigh to mine. 

  
     "Yeah," I whispered weakly. "You should be careful when you're bringing this up…around them."

  
     "Look, though," he pointed behind me. 

  
     "Oh!" I whispered, laughing, watching Cal and Felice, all over each other. They didn't need a gunshot to know when to start.

  
     "Quick," his voice was picking up volume now that we knew they weren't listening. "Let's go over there before they notice."


	12. Chapter 12

     He pulled me up. Campers and shiny cell phone screens covered the field. The ambient lighting had progressed from lavender to a cornflower blue. The crowd had already loosened up, so it was easier to skip away without attracting attention. I brushed at my damp pants with one hand as he pulled me through the crowd of anxious teenagers and adults. I didn't want to look back in case they'd noticed we had eloped.

  
     By now, all the sleeping pads that they'd had had been claimed. I made a vaguely disappointed sound, but I wasn't expecting I'd be able to sleep well out here tonight.

     "Aw. We'll just have to sleep on the cold, hard ground." I frowned sarcastically, pulling my lower lip over my upper lip like a sad dog.

  
     "Do you really think anyone's going to sleep?" He glanced at me, leading me down a side road squished between two buildings. The peeping streetlights couldn't see us here. 

  
     "No." My uncovered arm brushed the warm drywall, catching me as we tried to shimmy down the camp alleyway. "When my high school had camping trips, I could hear people laughing all night." I grinned.

  
     A gentle breeze tousled my bangs and cooled my face, which was blushing but invisible in the diminishing twilight. Golden, artificial light arched above us but did not touch where we stood. 

  
     Halfway down the path we stopped. The breeze was picking up again and it tossed my hair aside. I spoke to him, something I'd been meaning to say almost since the moment I met him. "Why'd you let me in last night? Wasn't it a little creepy?"

  
     "Strange shadowy visitor in the abandoned recording studio at midnight? Not at all creepy!" He laughed, then pulled me to the wall, sitting down. "They won't find us in here. We can stop," he mumbled quickly. 

  
     I sat next to him, legs touching, and he leaned on me when he spoke again. "I don't really know how to answer your question, though. Because I don't have an answer. It didn't feel awkward or anything to have you there. I was somehow comfortable with it." 

  
     He smiled, and took off his hat before laying his head on my knees. He looked up at me with a baby-faced smile with his fedora clutched to his chest.

  
     "So…" I felt my voice echo into us, "the music you were playing? I kind of feel like I've heard it before." It couldn't be true though; I'd never seen him before last night. Sometimes that happens with me and songs, I feel like I heard them years ago.

  
     He interrupted, "Once this is all settled, tomorrow we can go somewhere. I'll bring my guitar. Tell the others that we're going on an important business trip." I watched the way his mouth moved as he spoke, and his porcelain skin glowed like mine. I heard happy commotion in the distance. He shifted around, and now leaning against my chest, I held him.

  
     "I think they're bringing us food." he spoke gently. I was trying not to admit to myself that I was playing with his hair. "But I don't wanna move."

  
     "Don't, then," I suggested. "we can get up later."

  
     He sighed into me and then chuckled, softly but deeply, bringing up the memory of last night. "We better fill up on bread…"

  
     I laughed up against the tall wall. Our sliver of darkness contrasted the bright situation yards away filled with eager, hungry campers. He sat up, almost elbowing me in the chest. "Oh, sorry," I could barely see him any more. Twilight was no longer.

  
     "Aren't you cold?" I asked him lovingly, noticing his bare arms in his cerulean button-up. I didn't have a jacket, either, but I was rarely bothered by the cold. 

  
     "Not much," he crawled on his knees closer to me, "but, wait, before we go eat…" 

  
     He got close enough to me that my pulse quickened. I could see blearily in the soft winterish light the shallow emptiness of his irises, a delicate tint of the open evening sky.

  
     "Okay, Patrick." I groaned as his mouth met mine and he pushed me against the wall behind us, his name drowning away into his lips as his lack of patience burned away. 

  
     All anxieties about getting caught dribbled away like golden candle wax. This little alleyway became our castle for a moment as he kissed me. Less eager than last time but certainly more confident,  he kissed me, chest pressed so tightly to mine that I could feel his heart beat, too, offbeat and desperate. 

  
     He pulled away from me to our regret; his lips lingering so that when he looked me in the eyes next, he smiled while wiping a small strand of drool from his lip, giggling quietly. 

  
     I pulled back against the wall, feeling it cooling against my skin.  _Cockblocked by yet another meal_ , I thought, mind racing with a teenage rush. 

  
     He tugged on my arm. "Let's go get something to eat." I stood up with him, blood rushing carelessly to my head. It left all my extremities and left them feeling cold and shaky. Walking down the narrow hall towards the staring light, I switched on my phone only to see it display a drained battery. If I were to find with my friends now, it would have to be on my own. I anticipated the colossal death of everyone's phones in the dead of night. Without technology we seemed to get inhumanly restless.

  
     I strutted out, dazed, into the lighted area of the sidewalk. Patrick was wearing his sunglasses again to compensate for the change in lighting, and he looked almost the same as I'd seen him when he'd dropped off his number at breakfast. 

  
     I could see where people had gathered for the food. My inner ear throbbed and I felt lightheaded from not eating as long as I had. Campers had formed around a group of flimsy wooden fold-out tables like fans in the pit at a concert. Patrick drove us straight towards it and I clenched his hand harder in protest.

  
     "Wait." I tried to convey to him that other people had been here waiting longer. He looked at me seriously and pulled me closer to him.

  
     "This is the only way you're going to get food. Follow me." He said, flashing his teeth to reassure me I wasn't being dragged into a murder deal.

  
     I rubbed my eyes with my other hand as Patrick forced himself politely through to crowd to get to the table. I fatefully locked eyes briefly with Genesis; I didn't even know she would be here. I gave her a miffed look as I disappeared again further into the crowd.

  
    He'd dragged us to the front of the crowd where the tables were situated. I half-mindedly tried to pretend I wasn't with him as the counselors doling out pizza slices gave him a funny look. I looked at the greasy boxes of pizza growing cold on the tables. Many of them were already empty and had been placed lazily on the ground, flapping around each time a breeze passed by.

  
    "Sorry to cut in line, but we were hoping to get a couple slices of cheese." The look on his face was sincere enough that I forgot there were dozens of hungry people staring at us. He was being harmlessly adorable to the point where I wanted to mention it to everybody standing behind us.

  
    The woman gave him a sketchy look as if we'd cut in line and then tried to sweet-talk our way to getting food first. Not saying that we didn't do that, but it certainly looked worse.

  
    "Oh, sorry. We don't eat meat."

  
    This changed her expression and now she looked understanding if not pitiful. "Oh! You're lucky you got here in time, we're at the end."

  
    A man to her right handed me two slices on a pair of flimsy paper plates, and Patrick caught my eye with an arrogant wink, as if it'd all been because of his effort.

  
    I rolled my eyes, grabbing his wrist and pulling him off to the side of the tables, away from the crowd.

  
    "Okay. Thank you for almost causing a scene over two pieces of pizza"

  
    "You're welcome. For the food." He smirked sarcastically. I pulled him into the alleyway we were in before, carrying the pizza, which was draining its heat into my hands. I glanced at him briefly, shy. 

  
    "Yeah, but thank you though. For real."

  
    He brushed it off, his moment of vanity over.

  
    I looked at the pizza I was holding, joking, "But you're practically keeping us alive, Mr. Patrick!"

  
    "Oh," he laughed. "If you're so damn grateful for it, how about you really show it!"

  
    We were nearing the end of the alley. It was the beginning of Johnson's Field, a slightly smaller and more secluded soccer field on the East side of the camp. 

  
    Working up courage and burning away all the petty social nervousness, I leaned into him and quickly kissed him on the cheek. He was warmer than the air around us and it made me realize how lonely the cold could be.

  
    "Does that work for you?" I laughed.

  
    He blushed slightly. "Um, yeah, I guess."


	13. Chapter 13

     We had entered the field; there were still people yet it was nowhere near the degree of crowded that we had seen earlier. The only way I could tell they were there was the bright phone screens and the bustling noises reminiscent of a sleepover. Patrick tapped me on the arm and then led me off toward the side of the field.

  
     "Let's camp out over here."

  
     He directed me towards a small grove of trees. I felt discombobulated; there were no lights on this part of the field so I was walking into darkness without any knowledge of what was in front of me. All that guided me was Patrick a few yards ahead, strolling awfully confident for a man suspended in darkness and also still wearing his sunglasses somehow.

  
     He stopped right under a tree, finally taking off his sunglasses, tucking them into his shirt pocket. Crickets harmonized and I took a step back to watch the lethargic adolescent crowd.

  
     "Why isn't anyone over here?" I asked, not really expecting an answer, while sitting down up against the tree.

  
     He looked around for a second, then ducked behind me and the tree. "Probably because we're not supposed to be over here."

  
     I ducked down, mirroring him, not saying anything to him. He pulled me down behind the tree. I heard no commotion from the far side of the field so I assumed no one had seen us, yet.

  
     "So," I whispered, hands dug in the moist dirt and fallen leaves beneath us, "you're expecting us to stay the night here without anyone noticing? Solid plan. When we're right next to the edge." I snickered.

  
     He crawled deeper into the grove. I started to say something but instead just followed, hands and knees getting dirty and scratched up again. With the pizza still in my possession, I did my best to keep it off the ground.

  
     He whispered forcefully over his shoulder. "If we stay back here and don't make a lot of noise they won't find us."

  
     "Oh, okay." I remembered earlier this evening, checking in with the woman with the clipboard. She'd asked our names and must have marked down that we were here.

  
     After all my thinking had run its course, I took a look at my surroundings. Patrick had led us into a nice little meadowy nook between deciduous oak trees and underneath a large canopy of stars.

  
     "It's so pretty."

  
     Patrick failed to acknowledge my declaration and instead just grumbled, as in a question, "Pizza."

  
     I sighed, handing over one of the quickly cooling slices of cheese pizza. I took mine, too, and we spent the next couple seconds silent, engrossed in our food. Enforcing my love for pizza verbally, I could see him smile by moonlight.

  
     I tried my best to not choke, even though I was excited because I was finally alone together with Patrick, without my friends constantly looking over our shoulders.

  
     I lay down towards the center of the clearing, head poked and prodded by various sticks, twigs, and leaves. "Come here," I moaned sleepily. "Let's look at the stars. They're pretty."

  
     I heard rustling from where he was. "Yeah. But, where do I put the trash?"

  
     "Don't worry about it, we'll get it in the morning."

  
     He sighed and the rustling became more robotic and erratic as he tried to crawl over to where I was without getting splinters.

  
     His presence next to me felt like a sigh as he was warm and the ground and sky were colder than they should be. He snuggled in next to my neck and made me feel even warmer in a giggly way.

  
     "I'm from a big city so I never get to see this many stars," he told me softly.

  
     I relaxed, letting my body become absorbed into the ground beneath us. "I've never, either."

  
     The stars coated the sky like light through a sieve. There were giant ones and ones so small they blended in with the ones next to them. They seemed to laugh as they sparkled; nothing's ever the same in the night sky.

  
     The cold became a thrill as we lay there still, gazing quietly at the stars as if they were a movie. A faint breeze rustled the treetops and almost hushed the distant murmur of dulled teenage voices. The coarse sandpaper sound was sedating, to say in the least.

  
     "What do you think will happen tomorrow?" Patrick asked much in the manner of a small, sleepy child.

  
     I hadn't thought of it. Where would we sleep after tonight? What would happen? I trusted that there were at least a handful of people out there that knew what they were doing. If we let the night run its course, pieces would fall into place.

  
     "Uhh," I let it drown out, trying to think of an answer. "I don't really know."

  
     "I don't either."

  
     Every few minutes or so, a trickle of uncontrolled laughter sprouted up on the field. A chorus of hushes would silence them for the time being.  
  
     The laughter appeared and didn't seem to be dying down as we were quiet again. It reached the point where it became contagious, and I tried to stay mature and serious as we listened to the near-maniacal laughter down on the field. I could feel Patrick's chuckling convulse through me and it set it off too. I heard angry adult voices try to cover it up and only after the party had been dead for a good minute were we able to regain our composure.

  
     He pulled me back next to him. The bare skin on his arms was cold.

  
     "It's cold," I remarked.

  
     No one had made a sound for a while back in the legal roaming area. I took that as a sign that some of them were finally settling down and going to sleep.

  
     "Keep me warm, please." He spoke louder than usual.

  
     I snuggled in closer, making sure that all parts of him I found to be cold I wrapped my arms around.

  
     He yawned, while asking, "Are you going to sleep tonight?"

  
     I stretched. "I have to sleep."

  
     "So I won't have to stay up with you, then?"

  
     "No. You can just...sleep..." The conversation got less structured until it degenerated to irritated mumbling. Within a few minutes it was quiet and all I could hear were some crickets, far away from where we were. Patrick nuzzled in close to me, seconds later, exhausted he whispered, lips caressing my ear, "I'm going...to sleep."

  
     Leaves stuck to the back of my neck and the position I was in was awkward, but the treetops kept singing lullabies to me. The camp was far from silent but nothing was stopping me from falling asleep. My breathing forced itself to slow down as my breath stirred the deliciously dead foliage beside us. The sleepiness in my head reached its brink and overflowed and my head lulled away, nestled between Patrick's chest and the dry, hard ground.


	14. Chapter 14

     When I opened my eyes next, my skull ached from where it had been pressed against the ground for the last handful of hours. The cricket sounds had disappeared and in place was sparse and varied birdsong. I groaned, stretching and peeling bits of leaves and bark from the skin on my arm. They left an imprinted pattern. Patrick was also awake but hadn't moved from off the ground. The light was shining through the tops of the trees, silhouettes of the mountains a mysterious purple.

  
     It was colder now than it was when I had fallen asleep. It was too dry for dew, but the harsh cold of the wilderness was far too real again. Each breath left me like mist.

  
     I sat up, trying to will the throbbing of my head out of existence, looking at Patrick curled up on the ground. He opened his eyes, squinting, and smiled at me. He too was covered in leaves, his hair tousled and hat next to me.

  
     My voice was grumpy with sleep, "We might want to...go," I pointed at the field, which was now visible from our vantage point in the new morning light. It was better to get over there before anyone noticed we'd been  here all night.

  
     He groaned, then asked me to help him up. I grabbed his hand, falling backwards to help get him off the ground. The sound of our feet on the ground echoed uncomfortably and seemed to be the only sound in the otherwise quiet morning. Birds whispered and dove between the trees as we tiptoed quietly away from the woods.

  
     The field was finally quiet at this hour. Dewdrops pooled together as they came in contact with my shoes. The icy water hit my toes and caused me to cringe.

  
     "It's freezing." Patrick hugged me and shivered. We stared out at the field of sleepy campers. The morning was quiet and fresh. It seemed as if the world had been renewed overnight. It was the kind of sight you never saw when you slept indoors until 1 pm.

  
     I pulled him in closer to me, feeling the goosebumps on his pale skin. I whispered, still in awe at the monumental sight of the field we looked upon.

  
     "Let's make it look like we were here all night."

  
     He yawned. "What does that look like?"

  
     I hesitated while starting to sit on the ground. Wet pants would have to happen, and they'd dry by the time the afternoon heat set in. I laid my head back; the cold was no longer bothering me as I stared at the open sky. It was lightening by the minute and now had the delicate glow of young forget-me-not blossoms. A sudden gust of wind above us sent the overcast flying by.

  
     I focused back on him. "Well, for starters," I picked more leaves from his tawny, ruffled hair. "This might be more convincing."

  
     He smiled cheekily, causing a reaction in me that fought the nip of the cold back more. He had his hat in his palm and put it back on.

  
     "There can be a reason that there are leaves in my hair. Maybe I sleepwalk. Tell them that." He spoke softly, making sure not to wake anyone.

  
     We laid there, dew soaking through our backs as the birds decided to start their commute and flew simultaneously from tree to tree. They were loud and I could tell that they were starting to disturb the people still sleeping from the sound of irritated groans and whispers. I wondered how Felice was doing, and Cal as well. Hopefully we'd be able to find them again; after all, my phone had been dead and cold for hours.

  
     I laid my hand on his chest lightly, skin in contact with one of the pearly plastic buttons on his shirt. The activity around us had grown in the amount of time it took to settle in; people were moving around and the birds were creating a ruckus. They cried, over and over, above and around us and the uncomfortably wet cold seeped into the back of my skull.

  
     I shifted around, trying to rid myself of the dampness but only increasing it. I could hear whispering and strained, sleepy voices. It was like a giant unexpected sleepover and we'd walked in far too late.

  
    I sat up, head spinning, watching the field of sleeping people like paint dots tremble slightly. A dull whisper set into the air.  
    I hugged my knees, trying to brush off the water droplets that had warmed on contact with my skin. The coldness lived in the flesh on the back of my forearms. 

  
    I noticed across the field that there were some people that seemed like they might be in charge. None of them had clipboards, anymore; I guess they had given up trying to tally everyone in like last night.

  
    Patrick sat up, performing the same routine I had done seconds before. "Brrrr..."

  
    I laughed at him trying to be cute. He then became serious, noticing that I was watching the staff in the distance.

  
    He touched me lightly on the arm. "I'm going to check in with them, okay?"

 

    I stared blankly at them, unable to break out of my temporarily deep meditative state.

  
    "Oh, uh, yeah. I'm gonna come, too. I need to get off the ground." 

  
    Standing up, we began making our way towards the other end. We stepped over some arms and legs and some of the owners of these appendages, too sleepy to care, looked at us as if we had committed war crimes against them. They rolled over to try and catch some more sleep before it evaded them.

  
    We walked up to the ground of mumbling older adults as if we had wandered out of a deep, misty part of the woods. In our faded colors and with our little concern for the temperature, it looked as if we could be reanimated corpses, confused about what was living and what was dying. I could tell they'd taken a liking towards us as a pair and our non-invasive and polite tactics of getting information. 

  
    They smiled as we reached appropriate conversation distance. I forced a deep breath and gazed at the stirring field as he charmed away at their administrative minds. We didn't know what would come about the next few days scheduled at camp, or even what had happened to Cal's room and belongings. 

  
    Willing myself that it was okay, I glanced back at the conversationalists, making fleeting and desperate eye contact with a few of them. They didn't look very happy right now. I didn't hear much of what they were saying but tuned in because I figured Patrick wouldn't be exactly thrilled to have to repeat it all to me.

  
     "We started contacting people earlier this morning. The fire damaged too much equipment to be able to continue with this week's programming."

  
    "I totally understand. Thank you." Patrick pulled me away. I'd heard enough to be able to understand that we'd soon be leaving. It was only Wednesday.

  
    "It's only Wednesday!" I waited an appropriate distance before mentioning the topic. We squished our way through the muddy field back to our spot. People were starting to move around. I supposed that if we wanted to find Felice and Cal, now might be a good time.

  
    I sat down again, though reluctantly, and he took my hand lightly and solemnly. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck, from what I tried to convince myself was the cold. He stroked my wrist with his fingers. "I guess now we just wait for them to tell us what to do.."


	15. Chapter 15

    After a few minutes of sitting quietly together, I heard familiar chatter off to my right and moved my foggy daydreaming eyes to go see.

    "Hi." 

  
    Felice and Cal walked up nonchalantly. I was surprised they were up this early. It couldn't be far past seven by now.

  
    I smiled at them. Patrick was still looking at me as if I'd break away from him any second. 

  
    "What's up?" Cal sat next to us, luring Felice to settle with him.

  
    "We just have to wait until they tell us what to do," Patrick said, voice deep with concentration.

  
    I continued his vague remark. "Yeah, we're leaving today, I guess." I left it at that as I didn't really want to think about it much more.

  
    "Oh." They looked shocked, disappointing, as we must have had hearing the news . The field was now bustling and people were moving back and forth. If they were going to tell us any time soon, now would be great before everyone eventually disappeared. 

  
    Soon after this thought, I heard a loud mechanical voice from far away.

  
    "Oh," Patrick perked up, "let's go get our stuff."

 

    "Oh, okay. Where do you want to meet me?" I replied. I'd realized we weren't bunking in the same wing. 

  
    He thought while Felice and Cal began to get up. Felice called to me.

  
    "Meet me right here." He got up and kissed me on the cheek. He rushed away and I went to join Felice. I saw him shimmy through the sparse crowd off towards his room.

  
    "Okay, then." I tried to keep up with Felice. "Now we just go get our stuff."

  
    "Better hurry before everyone's in the hall."

  
    We reached room 13 after a few brief minutes of undistracted walking. The door was already open, and Genesis was inside, one step ahead of us. My bed looked like I had expected to return, but never did. It was a Bermuda Triangle mystery in the making.

  
    Luckily, I'd had sense to not throw my clothes around the room when I'd gotten here Sunday. My duffel bag sat in the corner, by the dresser. Clothing was misplaced but more or less in the same general area. I stuffed everything in. 

  
    "Wait.." I broke the human silence and sounds of re-packing. "What about Cal's stuff?"

  
    "He's going over there now. I offered to help him but he said I should go pack first."

  
    Genesis was stuffing a pillow into her suitcase. "Wait, who's Cal?"

  
    I zipped up the duffel bag, zipper squeaking to a close with satisfaction. "Felice's lover."

  
    Felice sighed across the room. Genesis laughed.

  
    "He's not-"

  
    "His room was near the fire," I added. I asked Felice if she was meeting back up with him to say goodbye.

  
    "Yeah, I should really get going." She rolled the suitcase out of the room quickly. We'd be returning home together; we didn't need to say our goodbyes. I'd save mine for the car.

  
    Genesis left instants after Felice did. I was left in the open, empty room. The window was slightly ajar from yesterday morning. I picked up the duffel bag. It strained the muscles in my arm, but after being away from Patrick for 15 minutes, I was willing to carry two more duffel bags if necessary.

  
    I waddled out the room, closing the door behind me. Its pine green paint chipped a bit as I shoved the door in place. Oh, well. 

  
    I shifted the duffel bag so that I was now carrying it in front of me. I awkwardly clunked through the hall and back out the door to our field.

  
    My eyes were greeted by harsh, fog-enhanced sunlight. I squinted, looking for the purple and blue that was Patrick. I took one step after the other to get my luggage onto the field.

  
    He caught my eye after a few seconds of squinting, basically the same except he was now wearing a complicated black leather jacket. I hadn't even bothered to change. I doubted really anyone would have, though, under these circumstances.

  
    I slowly walked over to the dapper little man waving at me. He came up to meet me, smiling.

  
    "You can put that down right here. I missed you." 

  
    I laughed. It hadn't even been 20 minutes. I dropped it and hugged him. 

  
    "When are you leaving? Did you drive here?" I asked him.

  
    He let go of the hug. "I don't have to leave right away, 'cause yeah, I drove myself."

  
    "Stay with me until I leave, please."

  
    He laughed. His face had a little more color to it after he had warmed up in his jacket. "Why would I leave?"

  
    Felice and Cal came running up to us suddenly, laughing. "Oh, there, we found them!"

  
     "Hey." Patrick turned to Cal. "Is your stuff okay?"

  
    Felice answered for him. "The majority of it's fine."

 

    "You should've seen, though. One of the fuckin' walls was burnt!"

  
    "That's kind of horrifying." I said very quietly.

  
    He continued. "The only thing that got a little damaged was my sheet music, but that's okay. I got it off the internet."

  
    Cal and Patrick continued talking but I remembered that my phone was dead and I hadn't thought to charge it when I was back at the room.

  
    "Felice?" She answered. "Can you text my mom that my phone is dead?"

  
    "Yeah. I'm gonna say goodbye to Cal and I'll tell you when she's here."

  
    "Okay, thanks." 

  
    I waited for Cal and Patrick to finish their little conversation. I pulled him aside after Cal had left with Felice.

  
    "Hey, my mom's picking me up and she could be here any minute."

  
    "Oh," he seemed disappointed that our time here was ending so soon. "You have my number, we can stay in touch."

  
    "Yeah, I guess that's true." I smiled and he kissed me quickly and roughly. I only had enough time to register the thin layer of cold on his face. He pulled away.

  
    "Sorry. It doesn't really seem very appropriate to do anything else, right here."

  
    "No, it's okay." I blushed.

  
    I heard Felice yell my name in the distance and my stomach dropped. I yelled feverishly back at her that I'd be there in a minute. I turned to Patrick.

  
    "This is the part in the movie where we decide to run away."

  
    "And live in the woods." He giggled. "But wait here, one second. I have something for you."

  
    He reached into his bag, and when almost elbow-deep in it, retrieved a shiny, blank CD. 

  
    "Wait, do I have a-" he mumbled, going back into the bag, returning with a permanent marker.

  
    "Ah. There."

  
    I watched him carefully as he uncapped the marker and took the CD, writing precisely in sloppy handwriting. Felice sounded like she was getting impatient. He narrated this gift.

  
    "This is what I was recording when we met. The second time. Some acoustic versions of songs. I was just finishing up the guitar tracking. Here." He held out the CD. I took it lightly at the edge. He'd written in overly-curly handwriting, "1. Run Dry. 2. Grand Theft Autumn." 

  
    Felice had lost all patience. I had to go. Being careful not to damage the CD, I gave him one last, aggressive hug.

  
    "Listen to it, if you want. It's alright."

  
    The studio we'd been in had probably been affected somewhat by the fire. It was lucky he'd finished this in time.

  
    I didn't even say the word "goodbye" as I walked away from him. He waved and I waved back with the hand that wasn't cradling the CD.

  
    "C'mon," Felice had been very patient and I commended her for that. Her goodbye must have been  brief. 

  
    I turned around to find my mom's car. Familiar but melancholy that camp was now over, I hopped into the car, silently. I looked back, couldn't see Patrick anymore, and gazed at the CD again. I got the attention of my brother, who was sitting, in power, in the passenger seat.

  
    I held out the CD.

  
    "Here. Play this."


End file.
